So, what to make of the news that the New Yorker Festival, coming in October, has become so popular with “regular folk” that its organizers have decided not to make all the tickets available to readers of the magazine in advance; for the first time, the festival will hold back 10 percent of the seats to all events so that visitors can buy them on the fly on October 5, the day the festival begins. And this for a program that is literary by anybody’s lights: Norman Mailer, Martin Amis, Miranda July, and Orhan Pamuk are among the participants. So is Steve Martin, whose memoir, Born Standing Up, will appear later in the fall. And, yes, in a nod to so-called popular culture, there will also be an appearance by David Byrne; a panel on graphic superheroes (featuring fan Jonathan Lethem); and a screening of The Kite Runner, based on the Riverhead blockbuster. [Boldface and link mine, obviously.]

Ten percent! So even if that event you simply have to see is all sold out, you may still be able to get in if you are willing to get there early and wait. But please, no trampling! OK, if you insist on trampling, we hear the place to do it will be the Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues). Zap that data into your iPhone—apparently, it’s good with maps.

Whee, the fall events are finally heating up! We at Emdashes love the cultural thrills that only September and October can offer. In fact, we love them so much that we’ve been working overtime to populate our brand-new Google Calendar for events we think Emdashes readers would like to know about. It is seriously chock-full of fantastic readings. It’s our hope that you will rely on it to track Calvin Trillin’s movements more assiduously, but not in a stalkery way, of course. We would not advocate that.

If you’re hosting an event here in New York or elsewhere, or if your local bookstore or library is sponsoring a reading by a New Yorker contributor or other relevant writer in the near future, by all means email us! To join the calendar, just click below. —Martin Schneider

The blog’s now treading the territories of punctuation, publications, movies, design, and other things that stir me.

Over the years, I’ve worked with a brilliant brigade of culture writers, editors, and artists. You can read all about the people who've helped build Emdashes here at “Who We?” (That’s a New Yorker joke. Old habits die hard.)

I welcome submissions, questions, corrections, and ardent, obsessive contributors. I also host occasional book-related contests and giveaways. Questioners and publishers, just email me.